Amidst the rising concerns of the coronavirus pandemic, which has the potential to damage the lungs, there is an increasing interest in learning how to strengthen the lungs as a precautionary measure or post-recovery aid.

To meet this growing interest, a lot of trends are surfacing on how to strengthen the lungs. These range from supplements to dietary tips and aerobic exercise. However, there is one trend that is rising above the rest by leaps and bounds: breathwork.

Even the American Lung Association is advocating breathwork as part of a pulmonary rehabilitation program to make the lungs more efficient, while the British Lung Foundation recommends breathing exercises to support recovery from pneumonia.

Read on to discover what is breathwork, why it works, and learn effective evidence-based breathwork sequences that anyone can do anywhere, at any time, to optimise lung health.

What is Breathwork and How is it Different to Normal Breathing?

Breathing is a vital process for life. The process brings oxygen into our body and expels carbon dioxide from our body. In general, a person can withstand about three to six minutes without oxygen before developing very serious and possibly irreversible brain damage.

Normal breathing for an adult at rest usually ranges between 8 to 16 breaths per minute. Just like how our heart beats on its own, breathing is an automatic function that we do not need to learn how to do and it happens nor does it need our constant focus to do it.

Breathwork on the other hand is any type of breathing exercise or breathing technique sequences done with conscious effort. By intentionally changing the breathing pattern, a breathwork practitioner can experience many physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits.

In short, breathing is an automatic function vital for a body’s survival while breathwork is a conscious exercise practised by many cultures around the world to optimise overall health and wellbeing.

The History of Breathwork for Spirituality & Healing

The history of breathwork traces back to some of our oldest civilizations. Some examples are pranayama, a breath-centred meditation with roots in the Rig Veda—one of the world’s oldest spiritual texts; and the Shamans of Siberia who use breathwork to enter different states of consciousness.

Other cultures around the globe have also placed breath as an integral essence to healing. In Chinese medicine, the word ‘chi’ or ‘qi’ means breath. The Chinese believed that when the flow of ‘chi’ is blocked, weak, or excessive, physical health problems will develop. ‘Tai Chi’, the Chinese martial arts, is sometimes known as ‘the moving meditation’ because of its focus to create, control, and restore your ‘chi’.

Thus, in many of these ancient civilisations, breathwork plays a key role in achieving holistic wellbeing and optimal physical health. Fast forward to modern times, these ancient breathwork practices have been proven by science to bring a variety of physical health benefits, including strengthening the lungs.

How Breathwork Holistically Strengthen Our Lungs

Niraj Naik, the founder of international breathwork school SOMA Breath, is one of the world’s leading experts on how breathwork can optimise overall wellbeing and health. With regards to how breathwork plays a role to holistically strengthen the lungs, Naik explains:

“You can train your intercostal muscles to become stronger through key breathing and exercises. This will help you breathe stronger and harder. However, that alone does not mean you’ll prevent inflammation associated with respiratory infections. Without addressing this inflammation, a lower respiratory tract infection can trigger a cytokine storm that floods the lungs, which eventually can lead to a collapse of the lungs.”

“What you need to do is holistically support your lungs to become stronger,” Naik continues. “This includes getting to a healthy weight, improving your cardiovascular, lowering inflammation, and improving lung function.”

Naik further explains that certain breathwork techniques have been proven to holistically support the key systems of your body that come together to strengthen your lungs. SOMA Breath techniques have been shown to:

• Improve lung function by aiding bronchodilation, which is the expansion of the bronchial air passages so you increase the airflow to the lung
• Promotes better cardiovascular health, which plays a key role in supporting our lung health
• Lowers inflammation by raising your tolerance to carbon dioxide and reduces stress
• Naturally increases the levels of nitric oxide in your system. It is noteworthy to mention that nitric oxide is currently being used as a treatment for COVID-19 as it improves the oxygenation of the blood and is also an antiviral agent.

This is why regular breathwork is an important component to include in our health regime to support the strengthening of our lungs.

Effective Breathwork Exercise to Support Lung Health

Normal breathing is designed to be done through the nose. The hair linings of our nostrils filters and warms the air for appropriate absorption in the lungs. However, a lot of people have breathing issues because they are mouth breathers.

Naik shares a breathing technique that will encourage proper nose-breathing, strengthen your lungs, and makes your body highly efficient at utilising oxygen so you can enjoy a healthier and stronger body.

SOMA Breath Awakening Technique

It’s recommended to practice this sequence in the morning on an empty stomach.

1. Sit comfortably with your back straight or lie down on a flat stable surface.
2. Inhale fully through your nose for 4 seconds, filling up your lungs completely with air. Your abdomen should rise first, and then your chest.
3. Release tension and allow natural pressure to empty your lungs for 4 seconds to create a perfect rhythmic breath.
4. In SOMA Breath, we use specially produced rhythmic music to aid this process.
5. Repeat 20-30 times until you feel tingly or light-headed. Your body will be fully saturated with oxygen.
6. On the final exhalation, breathe out with a hissing sound remove as much air from your lungs as possible.
7. Hold your breath with almost no air in your lungs for as long as you possibly can.
8. Take a deep breath in and hold the breath on the inhale for 20-30 seconds.

With regular practice of breathwork, anyone can improve their overall health and support their lung health, whether to maintain optimal wellbeing or assist in the recovery of ailments.